Study: Majority of Ebola causes were caused by small minority of "super-spreaders"

The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), highlighted the role of so-called super-spreaders—infected persons who spread the virus among large sections of the local population—who played a key role in transmitting Ebola to 61 percent of those who were infected.

Super-spreaders have also played a role in previous epidemics, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), the BBC reported. The 2003 SARS outbreak spread to more than two dozens countries, infecting over 8,000 people and killing 774. MERS has infected 1,905 people since being discovered in Saudi Arabia in September 2012, and has killed 677 people.